


it's the most wonderful time of the year

by bettycooopers



Series: twelve days of barchie [9]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Vlogger AU, the vlogmas breakdown is real yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28401123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycooopers/pseuds/bettycooopers
Summary: “You really think the Betty Bugs want just you for the entirety of Vlogmas, babe? Please."
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Series: twelve days of barchie [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066289
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	it's the most wonderful time of the year

**Author's Note:**

> day nine! a continuation of vlogger 'verse (see: [meet me in california](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25642138)) in which betty has a bit of a vlogmas breakdown, and archie helps out.
> 
> another round of thank you's to the toronto maple leafs #1 hype beast, [becca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/packedyoursaturday), who has patiently read these fics _and_ also answered all my hockey questions without complaint. sainthood: achieved!

Vlogmas is always hard on Betty Cooper. 

Archie Andrews knows this. He knows that December is her toughest month by far, when it comes to work – but it’s especially tough this year, because her editor unexpectedly quit in mid-October and so she’s been doing the work of two people, plus all the other normal things she does on the side to make sure her channel runs smoothly. The only time he’s ever seen her quite this stressed was the week her mother came to visit their new house for the first time, and their dog had somehow wound up with fleas two days before her flight had landed.

On Christmas Eve, she has a bit of a breakdown. He’s been expecting it, honestly – she’s been up all hours of the night cutting clips together, making Christmas graphics and planning out content for the next few days before she can finally take a break...it was only a matter of time before she cracked. Still, he doesn’t expect it to be as bad as it is. He finds her in her office, curled into a ball on the white couch she has in the corner, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled all the way over her face. He can hear her sniffling before he lifts the fabric, after he stoops down in front of her, his fingers gentle as he pushes her hood off of her head. He settles a soft smile on his lips and leans in, kissing her forehead. “You alright, baby?” Betty shakes her head, her lower lip quivering. “Well, we can’t have that.”

“I’m just,” she gasps a little as she speaks and he brushes his fingers along her cheek. “I’m just overwhelmed.” He nods, brushing his thumb over her cheek, smiling softly. He lifts her up off the couch and slides onto the cushion next to her, pulling her into his lap and pressing his face into her hair. 

“It’s almost over, babe,” he breathes, dragging his fingers through her hair slowly. He pulls her as tightly against him as he can, her back pressed to his chest. “It’s almost over, and then two weeks of nothing. No filming, no promoting, no nothing,” he kisses the top of her head, feeling her relaxing into him. “You, me, our bed, and Gatorade,” he chuckles, running his thumb along her thigh, smiling as she lets out a laugh, “and we’ll do all the shit you didn’t get to do in the last month because you’ve been busy tasting hot chocolate and trying on Christmas lingerie. We’ll get to have fun with the Christmas lingerie, even.”

Betty lets out a whine and he pulls her in tighter, then lets her turn and curl into him, her face pressed into his neck. “I didn’t even get to wear the Christmas lingerie,” she sighs, pouting up at him. “We didn’t get to do _anything,_ Arch.” He slips his fingers beneath her sweatshirt and presses them along her bare back, using his other hand to tilt her chin up. He ducks down and kisses her, leaning his face down against hers.

“Doesn’t matter, Betts,” he mumbles, shaking his head gently. “Doesn’t matter if you wear the lingerie, or we go drive through Woodland Hills for the lights, or if we even do presents – still Christmas, ‘cause m’gonna be with you.” Betty sighs, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him against her, kissing him softly. 

“You’re the sweetest, sometimes,” she murmurs, and he grins at her, kissing her forehead and pushing her hair off of her face.

“Only sometimes?” He grins down at her, laughing as she scrunches her nose up at him. “Want me to do Archie cam for the afternoon? I have some stuff to write for work, and m’gonna make pie crusts for tomorrow. Could be Christmassy for ‘em, and then you can take a break.” Betty smiles, shutting her eyes and nodding, pressing her face into his chest. 

“More than sometimes,” she whispers, leaning up and kissing the bottom of his chin, “you really want to vlog for me all afternoon?” 

Archie laughs, furrowing his brow at her. “You really think the Betty Bugs want just _you_ for the entirety of Vlogmas, babe? Please,” he rolls his eyes dramatically as Betty fake gags, he assumes at his latest attempt at a new name for her fans, “they probably miss me. I’m sure they’ve been begging for a good old fashioned Archie cam.” Betty laughs, kissing him once more before standing up and sliding off the couch, rubbing her hand over his thigh.

“You’re the best,” she mumbles, leaning over and kissing his forehead, “seriously.” She grabs her vlog camera off the desk, pressing it into his chest and raising her brow, “don’t do anything weird, hmm? Last time I had to cut like half your footage, and I don’t think I have the energy for that.”

“Promise,” he chuckles, getting up and flipping out the screen before he flips on the camera. “I’ll make it easy on you.” 

Archie waits until he’s out of the office to start vlogging, laughing through an intro about how Betty’s a little busy and he’s going to give the viewers what they really want...a day with him. He sets the camera up in his office and gets his guitar ready in his lap, pointing at the lens, “babe, do one of those time lapse things you like,” he chuckles, then works his way through a few riffs he’s been testing out for some of the session work he does. He finishes his own work, then rigs the camera up in the kitchen and chats the viewers through his pie crust process, getting the dough together in their stand mixer and then rolling it out, settling it into pie tins and sliding them into the oven. He’s learned a few cool camera tricks over the years, so he does what he can to make the shots interesting. 

Finally, he takes the camera into the backyard – not for long, but just so he’s got some space, and he knows he’s somewhere Betty can’t hear him chatting to the camera. She’s always so comfortable with it that it’s made him pretty comfortable, too – but he also knows the clip he’s filming is really just for her, anyway, so he doesn’t bother trying to hide anything. 

“Alright, Betty Babes,” he grins, walking into the glass door from the backyard to find Betty sitting at the kitchen island with a glass of water in front of her, their dog sleeping at her feet. She looks a lot less stressed than she did a few hours ago. “I’m sure you haven’t seen the last of me, but since this is all we’ve got for now – happy Vlogmas, happy holidays, and we’ll see you in the new year.” He shoots a grin at the camera lens and stops recording, setting it down on the counter and looking up at Betty, who’s got a soft smile on her lips.

“Sounds like you had a jam packed afternoon,” she laughs, raising her brows. She nods her chin towards the camera, “have fun with them?”

“I always have fun with them, babe,” he chuckles, making his way over to her and kissing her on the side of the head. “Had an idea, too. What do you think about a little compromise...what if you combine Christmas Eve and Christmas Day into one vlog for the 26th? That way,” he tilts her chin up, leaning down to press his face against hers, “we have the rest of today to relax, you can film in the morning tomorrow, and put it together tomorrow night...and then we’re in the clear. We could even go see some lights tonight, if you want. Maybe you wear that lingerie in the car...check everything off the list in one night.”

Betty wrinkles her nose, considering, then raises her brow at him. “Sounds like kind of a genius plan,” she shrugs, “if you ask me. Did the camera suggest that to you?”

Archie laughs, nodding as he leans down to kiss her. “Very smart camera,” he mumbles against her mouth, “super intelligent, actually.”

“I’ve noticed,” she laughs, pulling him in closer and slipping her tongue into his mouth.

They spend their Christmas Eve camera free, and Betty films their lazy Christmas morning – breakfast, gifts, the usual – and a few other clips to close out Vlogmas for the year before she sets her camera down again. They’d FaceTimed with Fred, and then her family while they had their fancy Christmas dinner, so it’s later on in the day by the time she loads the files from the day before onto her hard drive and browses through them. Archie gives her a few minutes, then flops onto the couch in her office and tries to look bored on his phone as she plays the clips he’d filmed the day before, leaning back in her office chair to watch him, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth.

She laughs to herself as he mentions the time lapse, jotting down the timestamps so she can put it together, and turns the smirk at him when he makes a stupid joke while he’s rolling out the pie crusts. “Couldn’t keep it to yourself, hmm,” she mutters, marking the timestamp down for that, too – he’s sure so she can cut it out entirely. 

Finally, he hears the ambient sounds from their backyard and sits up, raising his brows as he hears his own voice echoing through her computer speakers. “Okay, I know this is more just a little footage for you to have in your back pocket, but I was just thinking – what better way to end Vlogmas than with a little surprise, you kn–,” he hears himself let out a low laugh and Betty pauses the video, then turns, frowning at him.

“What’s this?” She raises a brow, and Archie shrugs. “Arch, seriously. Did you film something stupid?”

“Definitely,” he chuckles. “I dunno, though. You’ll just have to watch.” 

Betty narrows her gaze at him and gets a little pale. “Are you about to propose to me on a vlog clip, Archie,” she says the words a little too breathlessly, and he can tell she’s nervous. “Because I don’t like that, I don’t...if you’re going to,” she shakes her head, “I don’t want that, if that’s,” she presses her hand to her face and Archie sits up, “I mean, I want it, I just...not like–,”

“Betty,” he reaches over, pressing his fingers to her wrist. “You really think I’d do that on camera?” Betty looks at him, her forehead etched with concern. “You have nothing to worry about right now, okay?” She calms down a bit, swallowing and turning back to the screen. 

She hits play, and he can hear himself again. “–ow? I was inside making pie crusts, and I heard you in your office, humming Christmas songs to yourself and it just hit me how much I love you. You do all this for the whole month, and you work yourself night and day to make things people like, and,” he hears himself laugh on screen, and Betty suck in a breath in her chair. “I just love that about you. I love that you care so much. I love that you give so much. It’s really cool to see.” Archie stands up, stepping behind her and placing his hand over her shoulder, brushing his thumb against her neck. “So, I dunno,” he continues on the screen, “I just wanted to say that. Tell you I love you and you’re killing it this year, and people don’t even get how hard you’re working...but I see it, and I just wanted you to know it’s payin’ off, you know? You’ve got this, and you’re gonna have the most relaxing break as soon as it’s over, I’m gonna make sure of it. Okay?” Betty reaches up and puts her hand over his, squeezing it softly. “I love you, babe. Happy Vlogmas, or whatever.” 

The screen goes black, and Betty turns in her chair, pouting out her lower lip. “Arch,” she breathes, looking up at him and letting her hand drop off his. She stands up and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her and he lets out a soft laugh against her lips as she kisses him. “I love you, too.”

“I know,” he chuckles, nudging his nose against hers. “And I know you know I love you. I just,” he shrugs, “you were havin’ a tough day. You deserve to hear it.”

Betty shakes her head, slipping her fingers into his hair and scratching at his scalp. “You’re too good to me, sometimes,” she breathes, “you know that?”

“Babe,” he mumbles, shaking his head. “You wore Christmas lingerie under your coat in the car yesterday,” he slips his fingers beneath her t-shirt, running his fingers over her spine slowly. “I’m pretty sure _you’re_ the one who’s too good to me.”

Betty laughs, shaking her head. “Well,” she murmurs, brushing her lips over his, “give me half an hour to get this finished, and we can go do all kinds of things without the cameras around, hmm?”

Archie nods, kissing her softly and then letting her slide back into her desk chair. Vlogmas might be hard on Betty Cooper, but Archie’s glad he can still help her make it feel like Christmas.

**Author's Note:**

> you can follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bettycooopers) or [tumblr](https://bettycooopers.tumblr.com) if you feel like watching me break down in real time!


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